IMF Voting Shares: No Plans for Significant Changes

May 2009, Mark Weisbrot and Jake Johnston

This issue brief examines voting shares of members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including voting shares prior to changes agreed in 2006, the voting shares after the 2006 changes were implemented, and proposed reforms of the voting shares currently under consideration. It finds that there has been insignificant change in the voting shares, and that there is little reason to believe that significant reforms will be implemented in the near future. Instead, countries that have traditionally held a disproportionately large share of votes at the IMF, such as the U.S. and European countries, will continue to do so, while low - and middle-income countries can expect no significant increase in their representation at the Fund.